Sakhir (Bahrain) (AFP)

Shallows at the top of the timesheet: George Russell, promoted from modest Williams to champion Mercedes to replace Lewis Hamilton at the Sakhir F1 Grand Prix, dominated free practice on Friday in Bahrain.

The 22-year-old driver, who arrived in the premier category in 2019 in the ranks of the Grove team (Great Britain), was called on Wednesday to replace the seven-time world champion, who tested positive for Covid-19 two days earlier .

And it looks like Hamilton is not in his best shape.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff blurted out at a press conference that their star driver was unlikely to follow the race remotely because, "when you're bedridden and you're not feeling well, it's not the priority ".

A description less encouraging than the "relatively mild symptoms" he mentioned a few minutes earlier ...

Coming back to Russell, the Briton set the best time of each of the two practice sessions of the day, his first at the wheel of the Mercedes world champion of pilots and constructors, the first in 54 sec 546/1000 and the second in 54 sec 713/1000.

- Bottas in halftone -

In front of him, the half-hearted performance of the holder Valtteri Bottas (54 sec 868/1000 then 55 sec 321/1000) should however be put into perspective.

During free practice 2, the Finn, unusually little applied, turned in 54 sec 506/1000 but saw his mark canceled for going out of bounds of the track.

In Free Practice 1 already, Bottas had "not been able to set a reference time after quickly damaging his car, which prevented him from braking properly," Wolff said.

Behind Russell, it is of course the Dutchman Max Verstappen who stands out, even if we have heard a lot of complaints about the behavior of his Red Bull.

In the middle of the table, against Racing Point, Renault and AlphaTauri, Ferrari and McLaren have reliability problems to resolve, with breakage for Monegasque Charles Leclerc, Briton Lando Norris and Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr.

Unsurprisingly, the last two places on the timesheet go to the two drivers who are competing in their first GP.

Brazilian Pietro Fittipaldi (24), grandson of Emerson, replaces at Haas Romain Grosjean, injured in a terrible accident on Sunday, and Briton Jack Aitken (25) replaces Russell at Williams.

- "Turbulent" qualifications -

With its three long straights and "only four real bends", according to the Frenchman Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), the exterior layout of the Sakhir circuit, unprecedented in F1, should favor the powerful Mercedes engines (which also equip Racing Point and Williams) and disadvantage Ferrari (which also powers Alfa Romeo and Haas).

But with only fifty seconds on the lap, "the gap between the cars, particularly in the middle of the table, will be minimal and every thousandth will count" from qualifying on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. local (6:00 p.m. French / 5:00 p.m. GMT), anticipates Leclerc.

On such a short track (3.543 km), "impossible to respect social distancing" between the twenty cars, for his part, the Thai Alexander Albon (Red Bull) has fun.

All kidding aside, that augurs well for "turbulent" qualifiers, we agree on the grid.

"We will have to manage to make a lap without being embarrassed but also without getting in the way of someone else, explains Albon. Communication with his team will be the key on this track" that F1 had never before practiced while visiting Bahrain since 2004.

In Formula 2, the final round of the season could keep its suspense until the end: the German Mick Schumacher, son of Michael, has indeed little chance of winning the title on Saturday after qualifying to be forgotten on Friday.

The leader of the drivers' classification with 14 lengths in advance (for a maximum of 44 points still to be taken in the race, 27 Saturday and 17 Sunday) only signed the 18th fastest time after a collision.

"Schumi Jr", promoted to F1 with Haas in 2021, will have a lot to do from the back of the grid from 3.10 p.m. local (1.10 p.m. / 12.10 p.m.).

© 2020 AFP